Shadow of a Doubt (1942 Alfred Hitchcock)

Written by Thornton Wilder, a writer who Hitch most admired, subtly twisty tale has Uncle Charlie Joseph Cotten coming home to visit sister (Patricia Collinge) and favourite niece, Charlie - Theresa Wright. Their mirrored relationship is nicely captured by the shots of each on their own beds, one being the reverse of the other.

Good sub-plot has Henry Travers and neighbour Hume Cronyn trying to posion each other, also lots of good overlapping dialogue scenes with the kids. Note also the way Wright's friend is trying to cop off with the elder policeman.

Listen to the Directors discussing one scene:

Truffaut: I'm puzzled by one detail of the picture. In the first scene at the station, when the train carrying Uncle Charlie is coming in, there's a heavy cloud of black smoke coming out of the engine's chimney, and as the train comes closer, it darkens the whole station. I have the feeling that this was done deliberately because when the train is leaving the station, there's simply a small puff of light smoke.

Hitch: That's right; I asked for lots of black smoke for the first scene. It's one of those ideas for which you go to a lot of trouble, although it's seldom noticed. But here, we were lucky. The position of the sun created a beautiful shadow over the whole station.

Truffaut: The black smoke implies that the devil was coming to town.

Hitch: Exactly. 

Music: Dmitri Tiomkin. Ph. Joseph Valentine. Hitch is playing cards on the train.